Sunday, November 15th 2026   |

Featured Article

CCJN editor gives personal account of recovery from Hurricane Ida

By ALAN SMASON, Exclusive to the CCJN

The thick blanket of heat and humidity that enveloped my bedroom at night is what made sleep nearly impossible. No matter how one tried to ignore it, the ever present high temperature and...

Hurricane Ida presents challenges which differ from Hurricane Katrina recovery

By ALAN SMASON, Exclusive to the CCJN

Hurricane Ida, one of the strongest storms registered in more than 150 years, came crashing into the Louisiana Gulf Coast on Sunday bringing with it a massive storm surge and incredibly powerful winds...

Scattered by Hurricane Ida, the Jews of New Orleans prepare for High Holidays

By ASAF SHALEV

(JTA) — Once the hospice care workers evacuated and electricity went out in New Orleans, Alan Smason and his sister had to figure out what to do about their mother. 

At 89 and suffering from dementia and...

Hurricane Ida destroys one-time Jewish family’s residence that was Louis Armstrong’s ‘second home’

By RON KAMPEAS

(JTA) — Hurricane Ida flattened the New Orleans home where a youthful Louis Armstrong spent time with a Jewish immigrant family who mentored him.

CNN reported Monday that the Category 4 storm destroyed the brick structure on...

UPDATE: Hurricane Ida strengthens into massive Category 4 storm

By ALAN SMASON

Hurricane Ida continued to intensify late Saturday night in the open, warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico as forecasters declared it a dangerous major Category 4 storm early Sunday morning.

Conditions remain favorable for further deepening...

UPDATE: Hurricane Ida now a powerful Category 2 storm; could be Category 3 storm on Sunday

By ALAN SMASON

After spending all day Saturday over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida intensified its maximum winds to 105 miles per hour, establishing itself as a powerful Category 2 storm with hurricane force winds...

Hurricane Ida strengthens; expected to make landfall Sunday

By ALAN SMASON

Tropical Storm Ida quickly became Hurricane Ida on Friday with maximum force winds of 80 miles per hour, establishing it as a Category 1 storm. Weather forecasters anticipate the storm will continue to strengthen and will likely...

Biden and Bennett focus on Iran in first meeting: ‘If diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options’

By RON KAMPEAS

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Joe Biden said that although he prefers diplomatic means to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, he is not afraid to “turn...

Biden and Bennett delay but do not cancel their meeting in wake of deadly Kabul airport bombing

By RON KAMPEAS

(JTA) — The highly anticipated first meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Joe Biden will have to wait — but so far it’s not canceled in the wake of Thursday’s bombing in Afghanistan that...

7 decades and 3 wars later, this 96-year-old Jewish journalist is still writing

By JACOB GURVIS

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — When Tom Tugend was 13 years old, he received news not uncommon for a teenager: His family was moving. His father, a respected physician, had taken a new job. 

During the taxi ride...